


Tuples

by inatshej



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexuality, Asexuality Spectrum, Bad Matchmaking, Beacon Hills High School, Bisexual Derek Hale, Bisexual Male Character, Cultural References, Double Dating, Eternal Sterek, F/F, Female Homosexuality, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gay Stiles Stilinski, Happy Ending, Jock Derek Hale, Laura Hale Lives, Light Angst, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Matchmaking, Math and Science Metaphors, Mathematics, Nerd Stiles Stilinski, POV Laura Hale, POV Outsider on Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Past Derek Hale/Paige, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Past Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Platonic Romance, Queerplatonic Relationships, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Friendship, Some Humor, Sterek Secret Santa, Sterek Secret Santa 2019, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Teen Years, Teenagers, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000, Wordcount: Under 10.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23577403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inatshej/pseuds/inatshej
Summary: Five times Laura played matchmaker for Stiles and Derek and one time she didn’t have to.Or: Laura’s guide to dating.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Laura Hale/Lydia Martin
Comments: 11
Kudos: 184
Collections: Sterek Goodness





	Tuples

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greenleaf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenleaf/gifts).



> This is a Sterek Secret Santa 2019 gift for [greenleaf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenleaf/pseuds/greenleaf) , who asked for, among others, Fluff and Feels, Lydia, and Hale Family. I tried to make something lighthearted and it involves Laura and Lydia. Still, I couldn’t hold back angst completely – there is a mention of Kate and her relationship with Derek, although it’s vague.  
> I hope you’ll like the story! I admit I had some trouble finishing it because I didn’t have enough time (real life, am I right?) so if there are any mistakes, I’m sorry about that.  
> Also: this fic was first posted on Tumblr back in December 2019 (on the day of the reveal of SSS2019) and only later, after some editing, published on Ao3.  
> Inspired by [isthatbloodonhisshirt's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasterella/pseuds/isthatbloodonhisshirt) fic ["Get Together (Or So Help Me!)"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17206001) .

**0** **. The Things You Have in Common, Or, The Revelation**

Laura has no idea what it is about mathematics that makes her think of anything _but_ mathematics.

“A tuple,” says Deaton, “is a list of elements. What’s interesting about it, however, is that it can have different data types. I will explain this further during the math club if anyone here is interested…”

And Laura is already watching the creation of Lydia’s perfect notes, her manicure, then turns to stare out of the window. At least she isn’t the only one to not pay attention to the class – Derek is scowling at his notebook, tightly gripping his pen. He grimaces and carefully whites out the pink heart that was drawn on the margin.

Honestly, Laura doesn’t know what’s the fuss about. Sure, Paige was nice, pretty, and funny, but it’s been so much time already. Things haven’t been that good between them for a while and it was coming, anyone could see it. Yet Derek always makes the same expression when thinking about her.

Paige had to move out because of her parents but it was an opportunity. Even Derek admitted she should go to this music school she's been dreaming about. Yet Laura still catches him coming back to the Star Wars movies he used to marathon after Paige left.

Laura sighs and looks away, a flash catching her eyes. It’s a keychain with R2-D2 hanging from Stiles’ bag. Because Stiles also likes Star Wars.

And Batman.

And other comic books.

By the end of the class, Laura’s notebook is full of the things common for Stiles and Derek instead of tuples, sets, and multisets.

As there’s a bell signaling the end of the class, Laura breathes, “I’m a genius.’”

* * *

“You’re an idiot,” says Lydia.

“Give me one reason for why that’s a bad idea,” replies Laura, raising her index finger.

“First, you’re making Derek fall into another relationship when he doesn’t want to. Second, you’re not giving him enough time to grieve. Finally, what have I told you about amatonormativity? Expecting everyone to be better off in a monogamous-“

“Relationship, yeah, I know. But I’m not making them do anything,” says Laura. “I’m just… creating… possibilities. Giving Derek a little push. Besides, how much time does he need? Come on, it’s been almost a year, and that thing with Paige wasn’t even serious.”

Lydia doesn’t answer, so Laura continues, “And hey, at least I’m not being heteronormative. So. Will you help me?”

“Of course not.”

**1.** **School As A Natural Habitat**

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” says Lydia again.

“Shh. We’re observing them in their natural habitat, they can’t know we’re here.”

“They already know we’re here, it’s our school. And since when is school a natural habitat?”

Laura ignores her and lowers her voice. “Now we can see as the predator stalks his prey-“

“Wait, Stiles is the predator?”

“Well, it’s not Derek, right?” reasons Laura.

“Right.”

“The predator stops, analyzing his prey. His gaze is cold and calculating as he imagines the best way to conquer-”

“Stiles? Conquer?”

“-but it means nothing when faced with the fiery heart of burning passion and desire. Stiles can’t stop himself anymore – he wants, no, he _needs_ to see Derek-“

“Wait. How did it turn from an animal documentary to a soap opera?”

Laura shrugs. “I just describe what I see.”

“That only brings more questions.”

Stiles comes up to Derek, they exchange a few words, then Stiles nods and goes away.

Laura blinks. “Considering they are perfect for each other, that was rather disappointing.”

“Well, what did you expect?”

“Frankly, the same enlightenment I had during mathematics. Like, they would see each other and just understand, you know?”

Lydia makes a face. “I really don’t.”

“What do you think they talked about?”

“Probably the math project.”

“Math project”? Laura slowly turns to Lydia, the hope reviving inside her. “Oh my God, you’re right.”“What? Why?” asks Lydia, stiffening.

“They can work together for the math project. See? It’s all about _possibilities._ ”

Lydia looks at her. “It always makes me nervous when you agree with me and it’s always for a good reason.”

**2\. Cinema Date To Get To Know Each Other**

“Did you know that 0.5% of people find their significant others in a cinema?” says Laura. She has no idea what’s the real number but 0.5% sounds reasonable enough. “That’s why you should go to the cinema.”

Derek gives her his ‘you’re an idiot’ look but Laura doesn't budge. He’s not even half as good as Lydia.

“You say that like it’s a lot but it’s really not.”

“If you go, you're bound to raise the probability of the already possible,” argues Laura. “Which means it’s gonna happen.”

“Look, even I can tell that’s not how it works.”

“And even I can tell you don’t know a thing about dating.”

“That makes no sense!”

“Jesus, just go,” says Laura, pushing Derek towards the door. “Here’s your ticket. Row at the back, seat 10, you’re welcome. Oh, and by the way, you’re going with Stiles.” Laura grins and closes the door in his stunned face.

* * *

“You’re a terrible date,” says Lydia. “Late, focused on other people, won’t accommodate my needs-“

“Your needs are stupid,” replies Laura, rolling her eyes. Who doesn’t like caramel popcorn?

“If you’re hungry we can go to the [Red Sun restaurant](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6960580?view_full_work=true) after the movie.”

“No way, they always eye me oddly there.”

“That’s just because you had worn jeans, sneakers, and a Wonder Woman shirt back then.”

“My Catwoman shirt didn’t help either.”

Lydia gives her one of her My Patience Is Eternal But You Will See The End Of It looks. “Black and white colors aren’t enough to make something elegant, Laura.”

“Whatever. And I told you I was late because it took me ages to convince Derek to come.” Laura straightens, then hides behind her bowl of popcorn. “They’re here! Why are they arguing?”

Lydia watches the boys for a while. “Seems like they don’t like the film you’ve chosen.”

“How do you know that?”

“Lip reading.”

Laura blinks and glances at Lydia. “Sometimes I forget how amazing you are.”

“Then don’t,” advises Lydia. “Derek is entirely against the film but Stiles is trying to defend it. I don’t think it’s working.”

“Free tickets,” mutters Laura, “and they still have problems. Well excuse me, but I didn’t have much room to choose from.”

“About that – why did you choose a romantic comedy?”

Laura raises her eyebrows. “Uh, so that they make a connection between love and themselves.” She barely holds back a ‘duh’.

“I don’t think that’s how a human brain works,” replies Lydia. “Also, are we going to talk about ethical repercussions of you stalking them?”

“I have good intentions so it’s fine,” replies Laura easily.

“You know, sometimes I’m jealous of how you see the world in such simple terms. But no, Laura, you’re stalking Derek and Stiles. It’s creepy.”

Laura mulls it over for a second. “How about I tell them later about it? And buy them food to apologize.”

“You can bribe Stiles and Derek, but it won’t work on your conscience.”

Laura frowns. “Wait, you think I’ll feel bad about it later? I won’t.”

Lydia shakes her head. “You sure are something else. Come on, they already went inside the movie room.”

They start walking, trying to remain hidden from Stiles and Derek.

“Oh, it’s like we’re detectives on a case! Hold my pipe, Watson.”

Lydia makes a face. “Sherlock Holmes never said that. How come it’s the first thing that came to your mind? And was it supposed to be sexual?”

“Oh,” notices Laura and laughs. “Man, I’m hilarious.”

**3\. Bowling Date With Mutual Friends**

“Hey guys,” says the attendant and smiles at them. “Double date?”

Laura’s smile freezes for a second. She doesn’t like the thought and is surprised herself to see how much. It’s not the first time someone thought she and Stiles are dating, and the sheer thought that Lydia and Derek would date is ridiculous. Even back when Lydia was dating Jackson Laura was always rolling her eyes at the mention of two of them.

Derek is the first to react. He looks at the attendant seriously and says, “Never.”

“Oh, you _wish_ you were on a date with me,” shoots Stiles.

“I can’t imagine a fate worse than that,” replies Derek. “I’d die of secondhand embarrassment.”

“I can be charming when I want to,” replies Stiles, defensive. “But there’s no point in making an effort for you.”

“Exactly, you have to put an _effort_ to be even remotely dateable. And it’s not worth it,” says Derek. “Dates are just…” he grimaces.

Stiles raises his eyebrows. “Evidently, you’ve never been on a date with me.”

“No _, evidently_ , you’ve never been on a date, period,” counters Derek. “You have to make a conversation, think of the other person, plan everything, be nice and funny… It’s not worth it,” Derek repeats.

Stiles frowns. “Then how about you go on a date with someone you already know a bit?”

Laura watches in tension, wondering if that’s the moment one of the boys – or maybe even both – will _realize_.

“But there’s no one that I know and am interested in.”

“Huh. Well, that sucks,” comments Stiles.

“It’s not that bad,” Derek shrugs. “I got used to it.”

“It’s not a double date,” says Laura, turning to the attendant, “but it _will_ be,” she promises darkly.

“Four cokes and one alley for an hour,” orders Lydia and watches the attendant leaving to prepare the drinks. She sighs deeply and says, “Tell me all about that secondhand embarrassment.”

* * *

“So I take it not one of us knows how to play bowling,” grins Stiles.

“I think I’m pretty good,” says Derek.

“Not you,” replies Stiles coldly. “You’re a freak when it comes to sports.”

“You don’t have to be jealous,” says Derek, condescending. “I could teach you.”

“Aren’t you the picture of an arrogant jock,” says Stiles. “Together with not understanding the basic concepts of math.”

Derek’s smirk falls off.

“Right!” Laura claps her hands. “Do you guys know already with whom you’ll be doing the math project?’’

“Lydia?” asks Stiles hopefully.

“No way,” replies Laura. “Lydia’s with me.”

Lydia narrows her eyes thoughtfully. “As long as you promise a few strikes and at least one 5-bagger.”

“Promise.”

“I’m sold,” states Lydia.

“Don’t leave me like that! I know nothing about bowling.”

No one would believe something like that coming from Stiles.

“Fine, I may have read about it a bit,” Stiles huffs out. “I know the best techniques and all this shit but it’s not enough. It’s never enough,” he adds bitterly.

“Come on, how hard can it be?” asks Laura. “You’re just rolling a ball.”

“You have no right to speak,” replies Stiles. “You’re a freak like Derek.”

“And that’s why I’ll be in a team with Lydia and you’ll be in a team with Derek. For the math project, too.”

“No way,” says Stiles. “I’d rather be in a team with you, and Lydia can be with Derek.”

Laura grimaces. “You want to play into that guy’s expectations?”

“Why not? It’s funny,” says Stiles.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if he thought it was a double date but with me and Lydia and you and Derek?”

Stiles and Derek stare at her. “No,” says Stiles. “That would be weird.”

‘’You sound like a straight guy,” says Laura.

“Now that’s just offensive.’’

In the end, though, that’s how they play. Lydia and Laura win, although Derek does try to tutor Stiles. He gets considerably better but Laura did get a 5-bagger. Even Lydia seems amazed by that.

**4\. Romantic Restaurant Date**

“Derek opened the door for Stiles. They both dressed up nicely. They are still civil to each other. _What the hell_ ,’’ muses Laura, watching them through the aquarium, “my plan is actually working.”

Lydia cocks an eyebrow. “You sound way too surprised considering how confident you were in your project.”

“Oh please,” says Laura. “My idea is brilliant, Derek and Stiles should be together. It’s just that I was going about it the wrong way. I mean, let’s face it – Derek’s hopeless. Stiles is the one who can bring them together.”

“Is that so?” asks Lydia. She opens her mouth to say something more but the waiter comes to take their orders. They talk for a while and once the waiter leaves, Lydia says, “Oh, Stiles is reading a book.”

“Hm?” Laura doesn’t take her eyes off of the menu. If there’s one thing she loves about [Red Sun](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6960580?view_full_work=true), it’s the steaks. Just imagining the taste of each one is a pleasure in itself.

“Stiles took out a book and now is reading it aloud to Derek,” explains Lydia.

Laura frowns and tries to watch the boys through the aquarium. She thought it was smart to take this table, to observe and not be seen. In reality, she only grows frustrated guessing what’s exactly going on through the mass of water, algae, and fish swimming around.

“This dork,” she says finally, disbelieving. “I gave him _The Manly Art of Seduction_ book under the excuse of him mentioning dating a lot during bowling. He was supposed to read it and try all the moves on Derek! It even has a whole chapter about seduction at a restaurant.”

“They are laughing at all the advice,” observes Lydia. “At least they seem to be having fun.”

“I want them to be together, not _have fun_ ,” replies Laura, put off. “Can you tell what they are talking about?”

“No way, I can’t see them clearly through the water.”

“I’m going to the bathroom and will try to listen in,” says Laura. “They won’t recognize me like this, right?” she asks, gesturing at her clothes.

“Even I have a hard time believing it’s you,” says Lydia. “You look so nice today.”

Laura rolls her eyes and stands up.

“Basically, the right smile is the basis,” says Stiles now. “Give me your best smile, Derek.”

Laura doesn’t see the expression Derek makes, but it makes Stiles lean back from him. “Whoa, okay, it is an invitation to intimacy but of a deathly kind, you know? You should be friendly and relaxed, not dreadful and deranged. Come on, no smile, no game.”

“I don’t need a game,” replies Derek. “You want to be seductive and shit, you try that.”

Laura’s already passing them but she still hears when Derek asks, “Why are you winking? _Jesus_.”

Already on her way there, Laura decides to go to the bathroom. Once inside, she catches her reflection in the mirror and has to pause.

She really looks different. Laura has never liked to wear jewelry and fancy clothes because they tend to hinder movements which makes no sense to her. That’s exactly the reason she decided to dress this way tonight.

Now that she thinks of it, Lydia’s words might have a grain of truth to them. Laura is confident neither Stiles nor Derek will recognize her as they won’t even imagine Laura being this elegant. Worst case, they would assume it’s a look-alike. That’s also why Laura didn’t even bother to color her hair like Lydia.

On her way back, she again slows down her pace to listen to Stiles and Derek.

“It’s your shoe,” says Stiles. “It’s weird. I can’t focus, it’s shape is wrong.”

“It’s a normal shoe, Stiles.”

“And your pants. The material feels strange.”

“Shut up and rub. It was your idea to try it out and get better.”

Their voices are hushed so she can’t hear as much as earlier, although that may be for the better. Because, okay, Laura must admit it feels a bit weird. As much as she thought about Stiles and Derek’s relationship, she’s never considered its… physical side.

“Well?” asks Lydia.

“Stiles and Derek are playing footsie.”

Lydia raises her eyebrows. “They are lucky the tablecloths here are long enough.” She turns to watch the boys for a second. “Who’d have thought, they seem quite serious about it.”

Laura makes a face. “We don’t have to do that, right?”

“Why would we have to?”

“I don’t know, it feels like that. There’s always this scene in the movies,” replies Laura. “When the characters dress nicely.”

Lydia shrugs, not looking at her. She’s beautiful, of course. Lydia’s always taken care to be elegant. Tonight, she has a new dress and earrings which bring out the green in her eyes.

“So we won’t play footsie,” repeats Laura to make sure. “I mean, it’s not like you need to _train_ , right? To get more confidence or something. Be charming. Whatever.”

It’s a while before Lydia replies, bringing a glass to her mouth to sip some water and put it down. “Yeah,” she says. “We won’t.”

Laura already knew the answer but the time it took Lydia to answer kind of annoys her. “Yeah. Footsie is not, like, cello, it’s not based on the muscle memory,” she adds.

Lydia lets out her breath and looks up to Laura. “I was thinking of telling you sometime so I suppose it can be now.” She pauses and glances away for a second. “I’m gay, Laura. I like girls more than boys.”

Laura’s mind blanks for a minute, then starts working a mile a minute. “Oh,” she manages through it all.

“I didn’t mean to hide it from you,” adds Lydia, sounding apologetic. “I just wanted to make sure first.”

“Make sure,” echoes Laura. Because Lydia is a lesbian. Right. You need to make sure of it first, huh? Yeah.

Lydia nods.

Laura wills herself to react normally. “It’s good that you know now,” part of her brain says. The other one still freaks out, even though, honestly, there’s nothing to freak out about. When she heard that Derek was bi and that Stiles was gay it made no change to her. But this is Lydia. She was, like, dating Jackson. Sure, it wasn’t serious, but they were going on dates and stuff together.

Lydia nods again.

The silence stretches between them but Laura has no idea how to fill it in. She gives up altogether when the waiter comes up with their dishes.

Halfway through the meal, Laura can’t believe her mind is still reeling from the news. She’s always thought of herself as an accepting person. Maybe she has this much difficulty now because they were always so similar, Laura has assumed Lydia was straight, too. Besides, to Laura, sexuality has never been a question. She liked boys. Everyone likes boys. What’s there to think about?

 _Boys_.

Laura suddenly remembers about Stiles and Derek and snaps her head to them. Fortunately, nothing’s going on. They are eating desserts and talking, so Laura turns away.

She frowns at the last bite of her steak and looks at them again. It’s actually going really well. Stiles must have just said a joke as he grins expectantly at Derek, who huffs out a laugh and looks at him from under his lashes.

“Oh, seriously?” she asks, breaking the silence, and looks at Lydia. She’s so frustrated she forgets about the atmosphere for a second. “They are still making fun of the advice in the book.”

Lydia observes them for a while. “Are you sure?”

“It’s chapter 10, _‘Body Language’ and Reading It_. And it only makes Derek look stupid,” says Laura. At Lydia’s odd look, she adds, “I skimmed through the book before giving it to Stiles.”

Lydia smiles. “Remember anything good?”

Oh. Laura didn’t know Lydia could make this expression. It’s like… it could mean something. Talking about flirting advice is not flirting itself, right? It’s just talking. How do you flirt? Lydia glances at her. It’s getting worse. How do you _talk_? “Uh-“

“Can I take your plates?”

Laura startles but nods at the waiter.

“Can we have a receipt?” asks Lydia.

“Sure.” The waiter leaves with their plates and Laura blinks. She kind of hoped for a dessert but then again, the atmosphere feels strange. No wonder Lydia wants to end this quickly.

* * *

During the weekend, Laura concludes that she’s a horrible person. No wonder Lydia cut their time short, she has all the reasons to avoid Laura now. She decides to apologize on Monday and do whatever Lydia wants, even if it’s taking a break from each other for a while.

Yet when she sees Lydia the next day, she hears, “I’m sorry.”

Laura frowns. “Why?”

“I knew it was a surprise to you but I got frustrated that you weren’t 100% accepting.”

“I, uh, I tried,” says Laura with a grimace. “It’s just, well-“ she deflates suddenly. “Yeah. It was a surprise.”

It’s better, but not that much better. During lunch, it irks Laura that Lydia glances at Allison passing them and blurts out, “She’s straight. She’s dating Scott McCall.”

Lydia shrugs. “I’m just looking.”

And it still annoys Laura. She’s never thought she could be this much of a homophobe.

Well… unless it’s not homophobia.

Laura sighs.

* * *

The thoughts of Lydia take up space usually sacrificed for Stiles and Derek. By the end of the week, Laura finds Stiles just to say, “No plans for the weekend. Do whatever.”

“Oh, that’s good,” says Stiles. “You finished your project?”

Laura shrugs. “Something like that.”

“I’m coming over to Derek to play some video games.”

Laura stares at him. “To Derek?”

“Yep.”

“You’re willingly spending time together?”

“Well, not exactly. We need to prepare this math project and something to motivate us. So we decided that each gets to pick something the other hates to do while we meet.”

“Huh,” manages Laura. “Okay. I don’t get it.”

Stiles shrugs. “What’s there to not get? It’s mutual suffering for the mutual benefit.”

“Right,” nods Laura, staring at Stiles. “If it works.”

“You’d be surprised.”

**5\. Home Visit**

Laura watches as the teabag sinks and resurfaces with the movement of her hand. The teabag’s string stays on the surface of the liquid and Laura thinks about surface tension. Her mother always makes tea when she needs to think about something and Laura stares down at the liquid, waiting for the results, but so far nothing.

“Oh hey,” says Stiles, entering the kitchen. He looks at Laura for a moment. “You okay?”

“I’m thinking about surface tension.”

“That bad, huh?” Stiles pours himself some coke. “You can come to play sudoku with us.”

“Weren’t you supposed to play video games?”

“Derek’s turn,” explains Stiles. “It’s him tormenting me now.”

“Your fair system truly amazes me.”

“Honestly, me too,” says Stiles and angles to the door. “Anyway, the offer stands.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll go watch something.”

Derek’s always watching Star Wars when feeling down so Laura figures it wouldn’t hurt to try.

As _The Force Awakens_ plays, Laura decides to try out Stiles’ method of using the sofa in every way but intended, with legs on the backrest and head on the floor. She still has no idea how to amend her relationship with Lydia.

She sighs and looks to the side, under the sofa. Like this, she can notice something pink standing out next to one of the sofa’s legs. Frowning, she reaches to take it but it seems to be fixed to the material. Curious, Laura forgets about the movie completely and slides to the floor.

It’s a piece of paper pinned to the material of the sofa. Laura takes the pin and carefully releases the paper.

She sits back on the sofa, this time normally, and reads what turns out to be a note on a pink, girly paper.

_Derek,_

_I hoped you were more mature than that. Part of the fault is mine, of course, for expecting something from a child you turned out to still be. I don’t hold it against you, sweetie. We could still have some fun but I won’t wait forever._

_Kate_

Laura reads the note again and then again, but the content still doesn’t make any sense. The only Kate Derek could know is younger than them and deep in her goth phase. She’d never use this kind of stationery, with the imprinted hearts on the side. Not to mention that this Kate seems to be someone older. The ‘have some fun’ part makes her especially uneasy.

Well, no point in thinking about it. Laura stands up and is already going upstairs before it strikes her as really bizarre that Derek would pin the note under the sofa. She stops, frowning. If he wanted to hide it, he could do that very well in his room. Yet for some reason he chose the living room, used by everyone in the family and the guests.

This seems like the kind of thing you need to think about. Admittedly, that’s not Laura’s strongest point. What would Lydia do?

First, she definitely wouldn’t confront Derek about it right away. Slowly, Laura turns away and comes back to still playing Star Wars.

She reads the note one last time, then carefully pins it back to place.

* * *

Laura waits. It’s not until Wednesday that she asks Lydia about the note. She wanted to have the time to think of something herself but it didn’t help. The longer she waits, the more it only unsettles her.

“Did Derek know someone called Kate?”

Lydia searches her locker for something but the moment she hears the name, she freezes. It’s just for a second, easy to overlook but Laura’s watching her closely.

“You know something,” she says, surprised. “And I could tell that,” she realizes, amazed. “Like I’m a special agent or something.”

“Or something,” agrees Lydia, her mouth quirking before she sighs. “Yes, I saw them once together. I can’t tell you more, though. Derek wanted me to keep quiet.”

“That makes no sense,” argues Laura. “Why wouldn’t he tell me? I thought he was thinking about Paige all this time. I called him ‘Hopeless Romeo Soulpuzzle’.”

Lydia doesn’t answer. “How do you know about Kate, anyway?”

“Found a note from her.” Laura glances at Lydia and bites her lip. “Honestly, I don’t know what to do about it.”

Lydia doesn’t answer for a second. “If I were you, I’d talk to him. Say something like, I found this by chance, I admit I’m curious but also a bit worried? And I know it’s not my business but-“

“It kind of is my business, though,” Laura interrupts her. “I mean, I have vested interest in Derek being single so that he can date Stiles.”

“Oh, haven’t you heard? Derek asked Stiles out yesterday but got rejected,” says Lydia.

Wait. What?

“What?” asks Laura stupidly.

“Yeah, I’m not sure what this is about,” continues Lydia. “I’ll have to talk to Stiles later.”

“He wasn’t supposed to do that!” says Laura, stunned. “ _Stiles_ was supposed to ask Derek out! I got this whole thing wrong. I should’ve given Derek this _Manly Art of Seduction_ book.” Laura blinks. “Oh well. Actually, it’s for the better.”

“How is that for the better?” frowns Lydia, confused by her changed attitude. “Wasn’t your goal them dating? This is the opposite.”

“No, now that I think about it, I wanted to give Derek a push,” says Laura slowly. “Make sure he’s still there. And he is, right? He even asked Stiles out.” She mulls it over for a second, then shrugs. “Oh well,” she repeats. “It will be fine.”

“You sure are easy-going,” comments Lydia.

Laura shrugs again. “I should buy him some ice cream. And keep Stiles away from me. I can’t be held responsible for my actions around him right now.”

Lydia gives her an odd look. “Math club is about to start so you should probably-“

“ _Oh please_ ,” says Laura, incredulous. “He won’t come to the math club right after he rejected Derek!”

“It was yesterday.”

“Same chance! He should be at home right now, crying in his pillow, tormenting himself and cursing everything that led him to reject Derek.”

“Um,” says Stiles awkwardly.

“I saw it coming from a mile away but it’s still satisfying,” comments Lydia.

Slowly, Laura turns to eye Stiles coldly up and down. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“We’re going to talk about tuples?” tries Stiles. “Look, don’t be mad, please. We can still be friends, right? Like, see, I’ll give you my keychain,” he shoves the R2-D2 towards Laura.

“I don’t like Star Wars,” snaps Laura.

Stiles frowns. “But this weekend you-“

“I was watching it because _Derek_ always watches it to feel better.”

Stiles has enough sense to drop his eyes.

“So what is it about Derek that’s not good enough for you?”

There’s some mumbling that sums up to, “It’s not like that.”

“Well, tell me how it is, then.”

Stiles tightens his lips. “I didn’t exactly reject him, okay?”

“Oh, did you let him down gently?” asks Laura, scathing. “How kind of you.”

“I – it’s not like that,” he repeats, miserable. “It’s just… how can I tell that I can date him? I mean, sure, I like him but how do I know it’s enough to date? We could be just friends. What’s the threshold? How can I tell my liking is different?” asks Stiles.

“You’re overthinking it,” mutters Lydia.

Stiles shrugs. “Anyway, I said ‘I don’t know if I can’.”

“And what did Derek say?”

This time, Stiles meets Laura’s eyes. “’I understand’.” He pauses and bites his lower lip. “Unless…’’

“What?”

“Unless it was a tuple,” says Stiles, thinking. “You know. Dating would be a possibility, but so would staying friends. And there would be more,” he adds, growing excited. “We could have something else, something _in between_.”

“What?” repeats Laura.

“Maybe ask Derek about it,” suggests Lydia drily.

“We could have a tuple,” says Stiles, fumbling with his phone, then quickly typing. “We could have a tuple.”

“Seriously, what’s going on?”

“Stiles is asking Derek out,” explains Lydia. “Kind of.”

“Oh, right,” Laura waves. “I knew it would happen sooner or later.”

“What did he say?” asks Lydia.

Stiles stares at his phone, grinning. “He said okay.”

* * *

“I bought ice cream,” says Laura, still in the door. “I think they are celebratory? I don’t know.”

“I don’t know either,” mutters Derek, already sitting before TV. “Celebratory. I think.”

“That’s good?”

“Mm.”

Laura winces in sympathy. “You’d rather date Stiles?”

Derek shrugs. “I’m not sure what’s going on.”

“Sucks.”

Derek grunts.

They don’t say anything more until the end of _A New Hope_ , when Laura speaks up. “I tried to set you up.”

“Hm?”

“With Stiles,” clarifies Laura.

Derek rolls his eyes and takes another spoonful of ice cream. “You don’t say.”

“Wait, you knew?”

“Of course I did,” replies Derek, offended. “I just didn’t care. I like Stiles, so.”

In a sudden wave of affection, Laura hugs him. “I’m sorry. I feel like an asshole.”

She stands up to play _The Empire Strikes Back_ but looks at Derek first. “Can I ask why did you decide to ask him out?”

Derek shrugs and busies himself with the ice cream for a while. “He was talking about dating and stuff. That he needs to find someone, everyone has someone, is Danny still with his boyfriend, so I just. Snapped.”

“You snapped? What does that mean?”

Derek fixes his eyes on the ice cream carton, his cheeks coloring. “I said something like, ‘Just date me if it’s such a problem’.”

“Wow, talk about disappointing confessions,” mutters Laura. At Derek’s glare, she adds, “Sorry! But honestly. Did you say something more at least? Explain?”

Derek makes an odd move, something between trying to hide behind ice cream and a shrug. “Kinda.”

Laura groans. “Well, I’m waiting!”

Derek comes back to watching the ice cream. “I said that I like him.”

“You said why?”

Derek sighs. “Do I have to say that again? Because he’s funny and smart, and, and _pretty_? You know, the usual shit,” he tries, and fails, in nonchalance. “That he lights up the room. That I feel like I can be myself and it’s okay.”

Laura blinks. “Whoa, dude.”

“Shut up.”

“What did Stiles say to that?”

A tiny, stupid smile appears on Derek’s face. “He, uh. He liked it.”

Laura takes pity on his blush and plays the movie.

They are almost finished when Laura suddenly remembers about Kate and can’t stop thinking about it. When the end credits scroll down, she can’t hold it in anymore.

“There’s something under the sofa,” Laura blurts out.

Derek stops licking his spoon full of twirling caramel chocolate. “Wha-?”

“Something, uh, something _bad_.”

“What?”

Laura stares at the TV. “I may have found Kate’s note under the sofa.”

Derek tenses beside her but doesn’t say anything. It’s not a good sign, though – Derek will always win the silent wars.

“I didn’t know about her,” says Laura gingerly. “I thought you were still missing Paige or something.”

Derek doesn’t answer.

“Did she – was she – I mean, I kind of got the feeling that she-“

“She didn’t do anything,” says Derek, suddenly angry. “I was an idiot.”

Laura darts a look at him. “How old was she?”

“Twenty-eight.”

Now it’s Laura’s turn to stay quiet. She has no reply to that.

“I was an idiot,” repeats Derek. Laura winces at his tone, the self-hatred evident in a few sounds. “She didn’t do anything but she – she _expected_. She was waiting and kept talking to me and calling me a ‘child’-“ Derek breaks off, turning to the side.

“What happened?” asks Laura after a moment.

Derek shrugs. “She got bored. Moved out.”

“Can I ask you for something?” asks Laura, fiddling with the blanket.

Derek glances at her.

“I think you should throw it away. The note. Burn it in a ritual fire. Flush in the toilet. I don’t know, something, it’s disturbing that it’s still here.”

She didn’t expect an agreement, at least not an easy one, but Derek nods. “Okay.”

“Oh. Uh, really?”

“Stiles wants me to throw acid on it, too.”

“He knows about Kate?”

Derek shrugs. “Mentioned it.”

That requires some trust, right? Laura’s no expert but she can tell this much. This whole thing starts to look rather serious.

“Why is it here, anyway? If you wanted to hide it, you could’ve found a place in your room.”

“I wanted to remember it.”

“But what if someone found it?”

“What, like you did?”

“Oh. Right.” It makes an odd kind of sense, she thinks. To hide but in a way that someone, sooner or later, would’ve found it. To not be able to say anything oneself, but wait for someone to ask.

“I think I can stomach _Return of the Jedi_ ,” says Laura, looking at the TV. “I expect help in return if I have trouble with something. Like Lydia.” Wait, that sounded weird. “Something.”

“You two are like that?”

“Like what?” Laura makes a face at Derek’s raised eyebrows. “Gross, I’m not dating anyone,” she says with a shudder. “Although if I had to, I guess it’d be Lydia.”

“So you’re just friends?”

“We are not _just_ friends. She’s my best friend and… I mean, we are not dating, I don’t even want that, but we aren’t _just friends_ either.”

“Huh.”

“Actually, I’m sure Lydia knows a word for it. I’ll ask her about it.”

“I kind of thought you were straight?”

“I don’t know what I am,” replies Laura. “I’m not straight because I like Lydia, but I’m not gay. I mean, I know the way Lydia looks at Braeden sometimes at the gym and… I don’t look like that at anyone. So I’m not bi either.”

“Huh. So, like asexual?”

Laura lets out the air. “Label is a label is a label,” she says instead. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess? Whatever.”

**+1. Your Everyday Dinner Date**

Laura watches as Stiles eats Derek’s fries and Derek drinks Stiles’ milkshake. They argue about C-3PO, then discuss surface tension of the milkshake as Stiles drips his fry in it and Derek watches in horror but knows better by now than to stop him.

“When do you think they will realize they are dating?”

Lydia shakes her head. “They won’t. Ten years later, they are still thinking of themselves as platonic life partners or something.”

“I think they might go down the friends with benefits way, except they have trouble setting boundaries.”

“Or the fake relationship. Everyone assumes they are dating so they decide to pretend to be dating to break up and have it over with, except they can’t quite _just pretend_.”

“Oh, I like this one,” Laura grins and settles back in her seat. “Anyways, my plan totally worked.”

“It was a complete failure,” replies Lydia. “Your goal was to make them date.”

“There were a lot of goals, okay, they’ve changed, and many were achieved.”

“You can’t just change the goals.”

“Of course I can,” shrugs Laura. “It’s my plan.”

“I know I’ve said that a few times already, but I’m still impressed by your carefree attitude and easy-going nature.”

Laura bumps arms with her, smiling. She thinks back to the day she found Kate’s note, recalls heading to Derek’s room. Stiles was there then, wasn’t he? And it was just before Derek asked him out. Now that’d be a shitstorm if Laura went in to ask about Kate. “Good to have you to analyze everything.”

Lydia smiles back and Laura thinks suddenly of the talk she had with Derek. “Hey, is there like a name for when you’re friends, but more? Not like dating. Like, someone important, a friend, but not your… I don’t know.”

Lydia shrugs. “One that I just said. Platonic life partner?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“There’s also QPR. Queerplatonic relationship.”

“Hm. That’d suit us more, right?”

Lydia gives her an amused smile. “Is that your way of asking me out?”

“Is that your way of trying to embarrass me?”

Lydia nods. “Fair. Sorry. But is it?”

“Would you rather I call it a ‘tuple’ like Stiles?”

Stiles grins. “My tuple rocks.”

“Ugh.”

“Jealous much?”

“Stiles,” Laura makes a face. “This is my brother.”

“Your point?”

Sure, Derek’s smitten, but Stiles is just as bad.

“So I have different options?” asks Lydia.

“Well, we can always stay friends, so yeah.”

Lydia looks at her, curious. “What about dating?”

“No way.” Laura wrinkles her nose. “I’m crossing this one out.”

“QPR sounds nice.”

Laura smiles, suddenly feeling shy. “Yeah?”

“But tuple sounds better.”

“Jesus, no one asked you, Stiles!”

“Yeah, well, no one asked you to play matchmaker, either.”

Laura narrows her eyes. “I know you just want my muffin but fine. Take it.”

“Thank you.”

“Though, seriously, don’t say I didn’t influence you getting together. I should get a gift, like, a fruit basket. Once a month.”

“Okay,” says Derek.

“Okay?” echoes Stiles, incredulous. “Those are terrible conditions!”

“Well, we are together, right?”

“Gross,” says Laura, staring at Derek in abject horror. “You’re sweet.”

Lydia smiles at Laura, getting her attention again. “Tuple is good, too.”

“Seriously?”

“As long as it’s with you.”

“Romantic shit,” comments Derek. “I approve.”

“This is the last time we have a date together,” hisses Laura.

She knows it’s not, though, and really, she doesn’t mind. She doesn’t even care about the name for her and Lydia’s relationship, as long as it has the space to change and shape what they may have. Even if it’s a tuple.


End file.
